coals contain as much as 30 lbs. of nitrogen to the ton, and if 

 it could all be extracted, such coals would be worth more for 

 their nitrogen than for use as coal. 



Nitrogen is needed in the plant to form the protein of the 

 plant and seeds or grains ; and these in turn, when eaten by ani- 

 mals, form the protein of the meat, muscles and tendons, steak and 

 chops, the white of eggs, etc. Nitrogen also imparts a green color 

 to the leaf, makes it larger, richer and more luxuriant in appear- 

 ance. An excess of nitrogen will produce a soft, pulpy growth 

 which will fall down, while the lack of it is shown in a spindling, 

 sickly, yellow growth. 



Nitrogen is sometimes described as the alcohol of fertilizers, 

 the stimulating property, but as there is no food stimulant known 

 to plants in the sense that alcohol is a stimulant to man, this 

 assumption is erroneous. It forces growth because it is usually 

 applied in v/ater-soluble or very available forms like nitrate of 

 soda, sulphate of ammonia, or in the form of acidulated organic 

 matter like dried blood, tankage, fish, etc. Untreated horn shav- 

 ings, although rich in nitrogen, will not force growth, nor will nitro- 

 gen in any form do it unless there are present in the soil nitri- 

 fying bacteria to convert the organic matter into nitric acid which 

 the plant can then absorb. Neither will nitrogen force growth 

 unless soil conditions are right and there are also present the 

 phosphates and potash to keep it company. 



When crops "lodge" or "fall down," it is often the result 

 of over-feeding of nitrogen, which forces the growth faster than 

 the plant can obtain or assimilate the silicates, especially silicate 

 of potash, necessary for stamina. This often happens on rich 

 muck soils, and it is on such soils that an application of potash 

 and sand is essential to correct this condition. 



One can put coal in a stove, but unless air containing 

 oxygen is admitted, it will not bum. Air depleted of its oxygen 

 and admitted to a stove would put out whatever fire was started; 

 so nitrogen will not work in the soil unless the conditions are right 

 for it to be oxidized, so to speak, and converted into available form. 

 Coal will not bum in a chimney which is stopped up. A soil stopped 

 up with water or baked from lack of cultivation or insufificient 

 humus (organic matter) will not grow a crop, no matter how much 

 nitrogen or other plant food ingredients are applied. 



7 



Why 

 It Is 



Needed 



Why 



It Forces 



Growth 



When 

 Nitrogen 

 Won't 

 Work 



